[Phillip Beall]

All,

Those of you that know me well know that I am concerned about Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) induced power failures.  Those run the gamut from solar flares to military conflict.  The book One Second After by William R. Forstchen with a forward by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and endorsed by retired four-star USAF General Eugene Habiger, who formerly headed up the United States Strategic Command, is a fictionalized account of what could happen if a military grade EMP were detonated over North America.  There was also a very thoughtfully produced piece narrated by Dennis Quaid called Grid Down: Power Up, which documented just how few power grid points would need to be compromised to shut the entire country down.  All very sobering stuff.  Now this news story.

The Washington Post piece This one gadget could give China a back door into the U.S. power grid describes how deeply dependent we are on Chinese inverters, in particularly wide-spread use in the US solar energy sector.  From the article “More than 85 percent of the utilities surveyed confidentially by research group Strider Technologies are using inverter devices made by companies with ties to the Chinese government and military.” and ““There is plenty of evidence that would suggest this is a risk that needs to be addressed,” said Thomas Fanning, former chairman and CEO of Southern Company, one of the largest power companies in America.” and “Should inverters be compromised, Fanning said in an interview, the risk goes “way beyond losing power … to potentially compromising other critical sector systems, including finance and communications.”

Starting with the book, continuing through the documentary and now this major media piece; while some pooh-pooh the threat, I hope people in responsible positions are doing everything reasonably possible to guard against these types of issues.

73

Phillip Beall (W5EBC)

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